Note the title of this post is not "Do I Need Blog Marketing for My Business". If you are thinking that this is a better and more accurate description of your state of mind, it is time to start doing some research on Marketing Blogs. Most business owners are not looking to take on new projects that will not have an immediate return. Furthermore, the thought of learning the latest in emerging media advertising may not be worth your while, correct? No. The business owner and marketer of a business needs to engage social media in every aspect to learn how (not if) it fits their business. 5 out of the top 10 web sites are social media sites. Do you know how to create inbound links for free from these sites? Do you know the value of inbound links for a top 10 website? Just a few things to get you thinking.
It is proper business ettiquette to talk about your competition on your corporate site? How about if it is a blog that is indirectly linked to your business. Now the wheels should be turning. The old way was to put your competition in the meta data. Now, with social media, you or someone from the social media world can openly discuss your competition in a blog. If you own this blog, you can leverage this traffic to benefit you business. You also get a third party perspective on your industry, your business and the reputation it has. A good example of this is with pet insurance where this business owner is creating awareness for pet insurance while highlight key players in the industry and statistics for those interested in learning about the need and guess who controls the message?
What if someone starts bashing your business? If you do not own the blog, you can appeal to the owner of the blog but this is not the best route to go (because it normally results in no change). A better way to go is to own the top listings in search engine for your business name and its products or services. You can also use services like Technorati to monitor blog posts and have great control over reputation management.